wood ID request

Woody912 · May 31, 2015

Burr oak. As a general rule burr oaks were prairie trees due to their resistance to fires, white oaks trees of the big woods. Tend to show weak espinastic control ( I read that word in a tree book) so they tend to have a very large canopy. Very large acorn with a fringy cap that nearly covers the acorn. Acorns low in tannic acid and you can just about pet the deer that feed under them! lol

hupte · May 31, 2015

kljahnz said:
View attachment 428119 View attachment 428121
this tree creates a lot of shade.

its white oak... bur oak has much deeper thicker bark. plus bur oak grows really twisted. the bark and grain tend to spiral as they go up the tree. can you get a pic of the acorns? that will be the best way to tell for sure.

Woody912 · May 31, 2015

hupte said:
its white oak... bur oak has much deeper thicker bark. plus bur oak grows really twisted. the bark and grain tend to spiral as they go up the tree. can you get a pic of the acorns? that will be the best way to tell for sure.

Look at the bark on the big limbs near the fork. If you go back in the thread OP said that someone had scalped this tree with a hatchet back in its youth, I agree the bark does not look right on the trunk but I think this is the reason but if you zoom the bark near the crotch I believe it looks correct for a burr oak

stumpy75 · May 31, 2015

That is one NICE burr oak! That thing is huge!

hupte · May 31, 2015

Woody912 said:
Look at the bark on the big limbs near the fork. If you go back in the thread OP said that someone had scalped this tree with a hatchet back in its youth, I agree the bark does not look right on the trunk but I think this is the reason but if you zoom the bark near the crotch I believe it looks correct for a burr oak

it appears that more of the bark has been damaged higher up in the trunk. but I cant zoom that well. could be my computer, my browser, or maybe just the user. lol. either the bored youngster climbed the tree to hack off more of the bark OR its a fungus that is common with white oaks. the fungus eats away at the bark but is otherwise harmless. I cant say for sure either way. and I would prefer to see the acorns before giving anymore of my speculative answers.